COLUMBUS, Ohio - In a year when a seemingly unlimited supply of money has poured into political races across America, Ohio voters did the unthinkable: they elected a man to the Ohio Supreme Court who refused to take campaign contributions.

Maverick Democratic candidate William O'Neill defeated Justice Robert Cupp, a Republican, by a 52-48 margin Tuesday to earn a spot on the state's highest court. O'Neill's win, coupled with the victory of Republican Butler County Judge Sharon Kennedy over Democratic Justice Yvette McGee Brown, marks the first time in 40 years that a pair of incumbent Ohio Supreme Court justices were knocked off. GOP Justice Terrence O'Donnell handily won re-election to a six-year term.

Reached Wednesday morning, O'Neill, of Geauga County, sounded as surprised as anyone that he beat Cupp in his third run for a Supreme Court seat. "I'm shocked myself, I have no idea where this one is going," he said with a laugh.

Running on a $4,000 self-funded shoestring budget, O'Neill campaigned on the theme "no money from nobody"-- pounding a drumbeat that money in judicial races has a corrupting effect. His main means of spreading the word about his campaign was through a website that got 33,000 hits in October.

William O'Neill

"The message resonated because of my directing everyone's attention to the corrosive effect of money on politics, and I think everybody has kind of accepted that that's how we do things," O'Neill said. "But I don't think that anybody is accepting that we should be doing that in the judiciary. It really is offensive."

O'Neill said an Ohio Republican Party ad that falsely suggested he was soft on rapists "blew up" and helped him win. "It is without question the stupidest ad anybody has ever run, and I attribute my victory to the mean-spirited nature of Bob Bennett's attack on my good name," he said, referring to the head of the Ohio Republican Party.

He made his own campaign literature and turned down offers of help from the Ohio Democratic Party, which endorsed his opponent in the Democratic primary.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said both candidates who ousted incumbents did so because of strong ballot names. O'Neill's name did appear on roughly 1.5 million slate cards distributed by the Democratic Party, Redfern said.

Kennedy, a former police officer and current Butler County judge, was also still getting used to the idea that she would be a justice. "For a girl who grew up working class poor it's pretty amazing. It only speaks to the promise of America and its exceptionalism," said Kennedy, who won by a 57-43 margin. Kennedy said her law enforcement background influences her views from the bench.

Sharon Kennedy

"I don't think it colors the way I look at things, I think it accentuates my decision making," Kennedy said. "I look at the roles as similar. I upheld the law through enforcement and now I do through application as a trial court judge."

O'Neill said he thinks his election to a statewide office is a first in modern political history for someone who didn't take campaign contributions. "I assume it happened sometime back in the 1800s, but I'm not aware of anybody else anywhere doing this."

While O'Neill has been a trial attorney and has served as an appeals court judge, he currently works as a pediatric emergency room nurse at Hillcrest Hospital.

In fact, O'Neill is scheduled to work every day this week. "I scheduled it intentionally, because coming off a one-year campaign I would love to put my feet back in reality as quickly as possible," he said. "I have no idea the last time a registered nurse sat on the Ohio Supreme Court."

Chris Davey, spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court, said he doesn't think a nurse has ever been a justice. "I don't recall ever having seen that in any of the bios for justices going back through the court's history," he said. "But I can't say for sure."

O'Neill courted controversy by suggesting that Supreme Court justices may be influenced by campaign contributions. But he isn't coming to the court with plans to lob grenades for six years.

"I don't see controversy following me at the court, but what I do see is my experience as a veteran and as a nurse and as a trial lawyer...being a breath of fresh air at the court," he said.

Jonathan Entin, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, said strong ballot names like O'Neill and Kennedy have a well-earned reputation for boosting Ohio judicial candidates. Entin said O'Neill cuts a "distinctive figure," but other than having a generally good reputation during his time as a judge, not much is known about his judicial philosophy.

"I think it's clear that O'Neill is no shrinking violet and he will put his stamp on the court, but it's hard for me to assess exactly what that will be," Entin said.

McGee Brown, appointed by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2010, said she was surprised by her loss and plans to get out of elective politics and return to her law practice. "This is a big state and I have been up and down I-71 four days a week for a year," McGee Brown said. "I will be happy to stay in central Ohio."

Along with O'Neill and Kennedy, a third new justice will be coming to the court next year. Republican Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton has said she intends to step down in January. Republican Gov. John Kasich will appoint someone to serve the final two years of her term.

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